1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to optimizing environmental surveillance efforts, and more particularly to a flexible system architecture for local and remote resource management, allocation, and sharing, as well as sample and data acquisition, in various types of environmental surveillance efforts.
2. Description of Related Art
Existing surveillance systems, such as the Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance, heavily rely on a network of human operators for collecting field samples (e.g., animal, human, plant, water, soil, air), analyzing them, and reporting results and observations using available media, including print and electronic media. Depending on the type of sampling, field investigators may have to carry a significant amount of equipment into the field to perform their jobs. In addition, the devices are usually operated in standalone mode due to software limitations, hardware limitations, compatibility issues, or any combination thereof.
Such operation prevents the devices and operators from sharing valuable resources and information in real-time while in the field. For example, a sample collector may be equipped with a resource, such as portable barcode label printer, that another field investigator lacks. If that second field investigator were in the vicinity, he could utilize the printer as well. However, due to standalone mode operation, the second field investigator does not have access to that resource and, in fact, is not likely to know that the useful resource is nearby. This lack of situational awareness, collective intelligence, and inflexibility with respect to ad hoc, real-time resource and information sharing is commonplace in today's surveillance systems.
Thus, environmental surveillance today is a disjoint and relatively uncoordinated process. Small scale (i.e., less than 100,000 samples), localized, environmental sampling efforts, such as those occurring during the 2001 Anthrax letters occurrence, have clearly showed that traditional sampling strategies and approaches were not up to the task. In a bioterrorism attack in a major city, or in a global epidemic, (e.g., H5N1-inspired), millions of people and animals would have to be sampled as quickly as possible. Current environmental systems do not provide the level of scalability, flexibility, connectivity, and resilience/fault tolerance necessary to face challenges of this magnitude.